Beowulf (SPOILERS)

[blahflowers]

rozk has a brilliant review of Beowulf here. For myself I thought the film interesting rather than bad, or indeed good. The two battles, with the horrific Grendel at the start, and the Dragon at the end are terrific. Watching it in 3D I got the full effect of a dead body being thrown towards the camera, or hundreds of arrows flying through the air.

It does drag in between though, and there's numbers of ideas that intrigue. The first is the emergence of Christianity, though at this period of history he's crowned in holly and more pagan than some of today's followers may care to admit, those who tend to believe tend to pray both to him and Odin, because it never hurts to spread your bets amongst as many divinities as you can. The world is at a turning point, creatures like Grendel are the last of their kind and humanity is almost ready to leave them behind and continue on alone. However, the Dark Ages aren't prepared to let them go without a struggle, as it seems that a King must have the approval of Grendel's Mother in order to begin their reign, Grendel is the son of Hrothgar and Beowulf has his own son to deal with. The downside of this demonic copulation is an impotence, both genetic and spiritual, as both Hrothgar and Beowulf find they repulse their Queen and cannot sire heirs. She plays a long game of revenge, giving Beowulf the opportunity to become king but not allowing him to take any pleasure in it, until some time later, with Beowulf famed as a mighty warrior, she calls him back to meet his son.

This part reminded me of Troy. But rather than several hours of Brad Pitt pouting about how unfair it is to be gorgeous and a great warrior when you're in your thirties we have Ray Winston showing real gravitas and presence, even if digitally enhanced. Beowulf is as trapped by his fame as Achilles, and his shame as well.

The graphics vary in quality, the men generally are rendered in greater detail than the women, down to the fine hairs on the end of Beowulf's nose. However, Queen Wealthow is left rather plain, no great beauty there. She tends to blend into the background, only standing out as a character in her final scene with Beowulf before he rides off to confront Grendel's Mother, the third person in their marriage. The Dragon is amazing, his pitted hide full of knots. I can't compare the quality of this with LotR as I never saw that in 3D at the IMAX, but I have to say this is the quality of work someone will have to aim for if The Hobbit ever gets off the ground. I don't know whether it's the limitations of this motion capture animation thingy that leaves me not engaging with the emotion as much as I might. There's lots of sidelong glances between the main human protagonists and I wonder whether, if it had been the actors genuinely filming the scene themselves, rather than this fancy stuff, I would have connected more. It works better in the action scenes when the acting is big, rather than restrained.

And, in a suprising and radical departure for a Neil Gaiman script, the story ends ambiguously! asking whether the humans are ready to make that final great leap out of darkness, as Beowulf's successor is given the option of his own deal with the demon.

So yes, fun at the beginning and the end, less so in the middle.

Comments

[enrobso.livejournal.com]

I don't know who he's talking to, but Neil says he's fairly happy with the reaction to Beowulf.

His comments about the BBC adaptation of Anansi Boys pretty much concur with yours though.